Craig Valentino
Design Director / Brand Designer · Thank God It's Monday
New York City Metropolitan Area, NY
In My Own Words
With nearly two decades of award-winning brand design and creative leadership expertise, I’ve been creating meaningful design for meaningful brands within agency, freelance, and in-house capacities over the course of my career.
Meaningful brand design to me is about function in addition to form. It communicates an idea, solves a problem, and requires strong conceptualization and strategic thought to work. Design simply for design's sake is called "art." Design must serve a purpose and have a strong concept to accomplish a goal, that goes well beyond a pretty picture or a prompt. And the implementation of this design, along with good storytelling and longevity, is what creates a great brand. For the entirety of my career, I've dedicated myself to finding the sweet spot where creativity and strategy meet, which is my definition of good design. This is what gives real meaning to the work.
"In a world of shortcuts, demand excellence." I've heard it said that fast and easy is the low-hanging fruit that causes work to blend into everything else being created. "Fast" "Cheap" "Easy" are not words synonymous with design.
Work Experience
Principal Designer (self-employed)
Thank God It's Monday2008 – Present
Nearly two decades of award-winning strategic design, branding and art direction; specializing in graphic design, visual identity design, packaging, print, digital, apparel, and experiential design.
Select clients: Pepsico, Puma, Beam Suntory, Maton Guitars, Dainton Brewery, The Craft & Co, GoPro, Red Robin, Anheuser-Busch, Grenade
Visit thankgoditsmonday.co/about
Design Director
Rabe x Birch2019 – 2025
Design director & lead designer at award-winning agency with a focus on branding and visual identity for regional, national and global brands. Verticals include: smart home technology, food & beverage, hospitality, healthcare, private equity & VCs, and construction.
Director of various retainer accounts, as well as junior & contract designers.
Designer of visual brand identities, guidelines, and foundational brand assets aligned with strategic goals, and contributed to the development of brand strategies & storytelling as part of a collaborative team. Designed across diverse platforms, including print, packaging, digital/web, apparel, experiential, and specialty applications.
Designer
FAI Design Group2015 – 2019
CPG, private label, signage/displays for major retailers. Experiential graphic design and conceptualization of design within physical spaces (store-within-store builds such as local artist goods popups, specialty food markets, chef product areas, and collegiate sports retail popups).
Accounts such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy's, Beekman 1802, Saratoga Spring Water Co, TJX Companies, Saveur, Ugg, Dansk, Sharper Image, Buy Buy Baby, Allstar Innovations. Licensed package design with brands such as Tommy, Fossil, Polo. Consumer brands sold through Target, Walmart, CVS, Bed Bath, TJ Maxx, Homegoods, Marshalls, As Seen On TV.
Freelance Designer
Safari Sundays2015 – 2015
Onsite freelance with Safari's team, working with Pepsi Design and Innovation on a variety of Pepsi projects and Pepsico brand portfolio design work.
Art Director / Designer
Original Skateboards2013 – 2015
Art direction and brand strategy for all visual needs for Original Skateboards, RDVX, and Cell Bearings brands. Print, digital, apparel, packaging & product graphic design, communication and sourcing with vendors, licensing artwork from artists around the world, aid in technical illustration for product design, research and mood boarding of industry trends
Graphic Designer
H2M Beverage LLC2010 – 2011
Art direction & project management of junior design team. Print, digital, branding, packaging, advertising, POS, marketing & event materials, apparel, vehicle wraps, and print production design for all H2M beverage brands. Photography direction for studio + in-house photo shoots. Vendor communication and sourcing. Marketing efforts including advertising, brand strategy and events for all H2M brands
Collaboration work with Nike 6.0, Red Robin, Revel Resorts, Camelback Mountain, The Prudential Center, Blue Mountain, and Nascar athletes.
Education
Minisink Valley High School
2001 – 2004
